"and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." Shantih.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Day 9- July 8th, 2009 (Escalante-Hite Recreation Area)

Today was the greatest day of bicycling in
my life.The most challenging, the most
variegated, and the most stunning miles ever.The easiest way to describe this ride is to say that it is like riding
on different planets.The scenery
changes so remarkably that it is one breathtaking experience after another. I suppose driving it would be pretty too but
the immersion in the challenge of “getting to the Colorado R” and what you have
to go through to get there, was worth all the cold mornings getting ready.This is a must ride.There are beautiful rides through Oregon and
coastal Calif.The going to the sun
highway in Glacier is breathtaking, Vermont is so warm and inviting with its
little vistas and charming towns, and France is lovely too through Burgundy.This route though is a testimony to the
greatness of the bike as transportation (able to leap tall buildings with a
single bound), and the natural wonders of the American West.

I wish I could have ridden the entire 163
miles but I did not train enough to try it.We decided that we would auto transport the 27 miles from Escalante to
Boulder, thereby skipping the dreaded “hogsback climb” up to Boulder.The description was terrifying-8 miles uphill
with 15‘ from cliff to cliff -2 lanes of traffic, no shoulders and a 3,000 foot
drop if some RV has nowhere to go.I am
statistically inclined and would attempt it if no one has ever been killed
trying it, but sight unseen I had some doubts....We left Escalante at 8 after picking up Ralph
and with the sun shiningin our face,
this rough desolate country was sublime.There was almost no traffic so it really is a fine bicycling route. The
hogsback is not completely insane, it looked like you could pull your bike off
the road a couple of feet to allow RV’s to pass without feeling you were
teetering on the brink of a long fall.But with a modicum of traffic it would not be a comfortable climb from
the Escalante River to Boulder,UT.

We unloaded the bikes in Boulder leaving an
approx 2,500’ climb to the summit.It
was then 100 miles all kinda sorta downhill to the Colorado River.This part of the climb did not feel steep,
perhaps because the vistas are incredible and the landscape has a very Alpine
feel. The higher we climbed the more trees and moisture in the air.It was very similar to our experience in
Great Basin.At 5,000’ it’s blisteringly
hot and dry with chapping winds and then, crossing 8,000’, everything starts to
get verdant.Pine trees and pockets of
cool air in the shade.Its invigorating
and gorgeous looking back over the Grand Staircase .Like a jigsaw puzzle, the sun's angle hides
all the canyons and as the sun gets higher the relief map gets more colorful.What a view from the summit.We met a Harley motorcycle club at the
turnout.We bicyclists are not as
clique-y as the motorized groups.Why do
Hondas, BMW’s, and Harley’s all have their own groups?Is it spare parts or just that the people who
buy the different motorcycles are so different they prefer riding with their
own kind?We Cannondale cyclists can get
along with Serrotta, Felt or Trek folks.

The downhill to Torrey in the coolness was
amazing.Seems like the best place to
live in the summer.Winters are probably
brutal this high.Descending through
Grover we notice a huge rock with an American flag on it.When we meet up with the boys in Torrey, it
turns out they had gone to the base and climbed it.Torrey has a number of vacation homes and
looks like a lot of terrific mountain biking and hiking.We cooled at the convenience store.Fairly active store at the turn onto Utah
24.The guys were enjoying exploring and
did not feel like ridingyet.Nothing special for about a mile out of
Torrey-wide open and Nevada feeling and then all of a sudden into these huge
red rock cliffs.The road follows the
base of the cliff for ten miles and then the cliffs turn to sandstone and we
pick up the Fremont River.The road
along the “river” with the barest amount of water has turn outs for historical
markers.Cabins from pioneer days and
ancient cliff art.But its the now white
cliffs and slot canyon formations that just keep getting more and more
other-worldly.We break away from the river
and in a few miles it feels like we are in Arabia-vast sand dunes into the
distance.We pass a couple of
communities with abandoned hotels.It
just feels as if it got too hot and too remote to live here.Tucked between two dunes was a funky looking
restaurant just after Caineville.Not
open.Shade however.Its really cooking now as we roll into
Hanksville for lunch.This is a hot dry
bedraggled looking town.The map says
its 50 more miles to the Colorado R.Ouch!Not a world class lunch at
the Red Rock Cafe but getting a seat in air conditioning is reward enough.

It is really hot now and doesn’t feel quite
so downhill.A slight headwind
perhaps.This is wide open country with
a few Monument valley-like formations.I’m getting into focusing on the road 3’ft in front of me or on Ralph’s
wheel.Two lane road is not real busy
but it seems every single SUV or F-110 pickup is hauling a gigantic boat.We have fishing boats in AL.These look like 35’ runabouts with deep V-
hulls.It seems we can see 20 miles and
with the heat blasting down the landscape seems completely devoid of
water.Boats everywhere going and
coming.Every other car has a boat.It does NOT feel like a lake anywhere.Slowly we seem to be heading into canyon
country.The road grows some walls and
in places, shade, as the late afternoon sun can’t quite reach the road.Enough heat has already been applied in my
mind-I can feel it radiating up through my shoes on the downstroke.I have just about had enough fun --but these
canyons are amazing.A sudden turnout
and we have a glorious overlook over the Colorado.We can see our campground below us and the
bridge in the distance.All
downhill.I have had enough.We’ve done 100+ miles through incredible
countryside.Ralph hates to give up a
downhill and pushes on.There are more
givebacks than you would think and a few miles on he calls it quits.Pack up the bikes and go looking for this
camping area.

Just before driving over the bridge we pass
two very tired looking cyclists, fully loaded.(No, not that kind of loaded)They are making incremental time.The Hite recreation area is really a boat launch.Surprise!No wonder all these boats.Interestingly
once we turn off we do not see any more boats.There is one boat in the river and one pulling out of the water as we
head to the parking lot at the end of the access road.It looks like a pleasantly lonely spot.Ralph will be forced to camp tonight with
us.I give him the air mattress because
that’s the kind of friend I am BUT I wouldn’t a done it if the dirt wasn’t
pretty damn soft.We go down to the
river to pray (I mean play) and we just chill watching the sun sink behind the
cliffs on the opposite shore.

Nighttime has a full moon.I
thought we’d get some stargazing in but it was pretty bright. The wasted guys on the road showed up for dinner. They left San Francisco two weeks before us and were headed to Rhode Island where they were in school. They appreciated the cooler beers--sorry Mom. Another downside to having to carry everything on your bike. The four boys stayed up playing guitar and
talking.Ralph and I zonked.They didn’t do 100+ miles in withering
heat.....

I have a personal code I live by but I’ve come to feel that it’s a
little threadbare and understated to accomplish much in this world. It is
First, do no harm. Whatever big plans you’ve got in mind consider what could go
wrong and don’t do anything ifthe
probabilities of harm are too high.It’s
a justification for not doing much I fear.But in other things, fear of doing harm curtails necessary risk
taking.The ant that follows the trail
finds what has always been found. No risk, no reward.Our willingness to take risks sometimes
actually ADDS to other peoples risk.Because we are linked social creatures, when we fail, we take out
innocent bystanders.This “collateral
damage” is often thought just an unfortunate accident but risky behavior will
have personal consequences and impact other people.When everyone is doing their own thing -
where is the social goal?Is Adam Smith
right? The invisible hand will create - Society-when each seeks his own?He probably presumed a lot: People would be
honorable and not lie, change would be slow,
religious principles governed everyday life, normal people would continue to want to please God-and the
church would continue to control the rhythm and rituals of life. Commercial life was not as all consuming as it is today.

So those of us who do not dare disturb the
universe-don’t.But by nature I am a
contrarian.You say blue skies ahead-I
say storm warnings.I pull against the
grain.Pride undoubtedly.You think everything is hunky-dory, I say
probably not.I try not to ruin all the
parties I attend but trying to do no harm and being a revolutionary are not
perfectly compatible.Virtue of a
legalistic sort is not sufficient.It
requires a REAL sacrifice.If there is a
heaven and hell, virtue is not really necessary.We can be our flawed selves and get what we
deserve.But if not, Virtue - Honor-
Nobility all require a sacrifice (if we want them).They don’t just show up.What are our American sustaining ideals? Go shopping?(Yes, that will really irritate our enemies)Freedom for all to do what we like? Show me
the money? Christians believe in helping your neighbor and forgiving your enemies. I see bigger defense budgets putting the lie to that.

Human ideals require big ideas, the biggest
idea you can think of and the courage to live in a manner to accomplish
it.I do not want to be an ugly
American, so I’m not pushy.I think a
substantially just, ecologically aware, multi-ethnic democracy would be a
satisfying goal for America. This is an inward not outward focus. How do we include everyone that is an American? If others won’t leave us alone or want to
crash the party we need to be “creative” in our opposition.Brute force in extremis may be necessary
but otherwise a light touch. Get the army
out of 80+ foreign lands.Let others
suffer with their own internal contradictions. A nuclear world is dangerous but we should be resolved to take our warhead count as low as deterrence will allow.

We are currently creating a lot of
enemies.I read that Afghanistan has a
GDP of $12 billion a year (is 10% or 60% of that heroin?) and we are
spending3 billlion $/month there.Does this make sense?I know if we paid them to be our friends
they’d quit when we stopped paying them but they might remember us fondly. Or was that our strategy all along? What if we sentour new unemployed college graduates over
there to drink tea and see how they could help, like the Peace Corps.Would we make some real friends? How about if
we are so interested in Afghanistan a few American cities adopted sister cities
and sent church groups to build clinics and schools?You say Taliban-I say, see what each town
council there really wants--help them get it.Greg Mortensen did it and whoever is setting IED’s hasn’t blown up any
of his secular schools..... Sending body armoured teenagers with AR-15's into people's homes has not made us popular. Blow back is coming when we can't afford to pay our enemies to be friends...